Benjamin A. Smith II
|birth_place = Gloucester, Massachusetts |death_date = |death_place = Gloucester, Massachusetts |restingplace= Calvary Cemetery, Gloucester. |spouse =Barbara M. Mecham | children =R. Russell II, Benjamin A. "Punky" III, Barbara S. Ramsey, Susan S. Crotty, and Cathleen Smith. |alma_mater = Harvard University |profession = |religion = |party = Democratic |branch = United States Navy |serviceyears = 1941-1945 |rank =Commander |battles = World War II |awards=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal }} Benjamin Atwood Smith II (March 26, 1916 September 26, 1991) was a United States Senator from the state of Massachusetts from December 1960 until November 1962. Family and education Smith, who was named for his grandfather Benjamin A. Smith, was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts to R. Russell and Grace Smith. He married Barbara M. (Mechem) of Lake Forest, Illinois and Annisquam, Mass. They had five children, sons, R. Russell Smith 2d and Benjamin A. Smith 3d, an ice hockey player and coach, and daughters, Barbara (Smith) Ramsey, Susan (Smith) Crotty, and Cathleen Smith. Smith attended the Gloucester public schools. Smith was captain of the 1933 Gloucester High School football team under coach Nate Ross. He later graduated from Governor Dummer Academy and Harvard University. While at Harvard, Smith played fullback on the football team under coach Dick Harlow. At Harvard, Smith was a roommate of John F. Kennedy. Military service Smith served in the United States Navy for four years during World War II. While he was in the Navy, Smith served in the Pacific as Commander on an anti-submarine, anti-torpedo vessel. Public service Smith served as a member of the Gloucester School Committee, the Gloucester City Council and was a trustee of the Addison Gilbert Hospital. Smith served as Mayor of Gloucester from 1954 to 1955; however, at the time Smith was mayor, Gloucester had a Plan E form of government. The office of mayor was a ceremonial position, the mayor was a city councilor chosen by that body and the actual city administration was carried out by a professional city manager. Business career For many years Smith was the chief executive of his family's business, the Merchants Box Company in Gloucester. Senate appointment John F. Kennedy resigned from the Senate on December 22, 1960, after he was elected President of the United States. Kennedy, who had been reelected to a second Senate term of six years in 1958, advised Gov. Foster Furcolo of Massachusetts to appoint Smith to fill the vacated seat "in the interest of promoting party unity." Critics said Smith, a close friend of the Kennedy family, was intended to be a "seat-warmer" until the President-elect's brother Edward M. Kennedy turned thirty (the minimum age provided by the U.S. Constitution for eligibility to serve in the Senate). Smith served as Senator until November 6, 1962, when Edward Kennedy, his duly elected successor, was chosen in a special election. Special ambassador In 1963, President Kennedy named Smith as the chairman of the U.S. delegation to the North Pacific Fisheries Conference involving the United States, the Soviet Union, Canada and Japan. Death and burial Smith died after a long illness in the Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester and was buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Gloucester. References External links Retrieved on 2008-01-23 * Category:United States Senators from Massachusetts Category:Appointed United States Senators Category:Massachusetts Democrats Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:1916 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Harvard University alumni Category:People from Gloucester, Massachusetts Category:Massachusetts city council members Category:Mayors of places in Massachusetts Category:Democratic Party United States Senators Category:20th-century American politicians